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Conclusions wind farms can be approved. This must be considered a pragmatic approach since these timeframes are generally not sufficient to understand the ecological effects for each site in question, including seasonal and inter-annual variability at both ecosystem and species levels. Furthermore, the Before- After-Control-Impact (BACI) impact studies, a standard approach in EIAs, would benefit from including sampling of appropriate distance related effects to a larger degree. The existing baseline data available for a marine area strongly influences the quality of the EIA, which should be taken into account during the site selection and permitting processes. EIAs for offshore wind farms are performed at varying scales, and at different scopes and depths of studies; this has resulted from a lack of comparable national standards, as well as differing interpretations of EIA requirements by consenting authorities. To avoid arbitrary or non-precautionary approaches, solid scientifically based standards and threshold values for assessments of impacts should be developed at national, and if possible also at regional levels. Additionally, international guidelines and information exchange networks (such as EMODNET) should be established to minimise local and national obstacles to conduct and scope EIAs. The relevant criteria upon which impact prognoses are to be based should be clarified. Population and particularly subpopulation effects on species are central in impact assessments and consenting processes. There are, however, generally no regional or national agreements on acceptable levels (i.e. impact intensity) or scales (e.g. reference populations to consider and biogeographic distribution affected) of disturbance for species in question. These weaknesses need to be addressed at national as well as transnational levels. Appropriate baseline data on the state of the marine environment, distribution of important and sensitive species and habitats, and habitat use and migration routes of birds, fish and mammals are generally very scarce in relation to the requirements for impact assessments. Research on species distribution and abundance over annual cycles, population structures and status, as well as the development of analytical tools for assessing ecosystem and cascading effects are therefore required. Strategic research to develop species-specific sensitivity indices in relation to offshore wind energy development (currently only available for birds) in different life stages and in different regions is also required. More research on the effects of noise on different species, as well as the mechanism and cues underlying avoidance behaviour by birds, is required for the development of appropriate mitigation strategies. This is also the case in regard to the impacts of electromagnetic fields as barriers for migrating fish. In addition, the potential benefits of fishery closures and the provision of artificial habitats as a by-product of wind farm development should be 30 GREENING BLUE ENERGY - Identifying and managing biodiversity risks and opportunities of offshore renewable energy further explored. 5.4 Final conclusions As the global offshore wind energy industry further expands and continues to mature, companies and governments will benefit from increased knowledge and experience. Ongoing monitoring will be crucial to identify how successful previous mitigation strategies have been in avoiding or reducing impacts on the marine environment. Future decisions can integrate new findings and mitigate new threats. Learning from other processes, other types of installation (e.g. multiuse sites in Japan) should not be overlooked. By undertaking rigorous impact assessment and systematic environmental management, the industry will continue to learn through the plan, do, check, act approach, and apply continuous improvement to their practices and procedures. Though marine spatial planning, cumulative and synergistic impacts can be better managed, and impacts and opportunities for all sea users taken into consideration. Planning and development decisions made at this stage of the development of offshore wind energy will be setting a precedent for future developments, both in Europe and beyond, so it is imperative that shortcomings in research and knowledge are addressed as a matter of urgency.
6 Additional resources While the next section provides significant scientific guidance, the below section is intended to provide references to the main resources referred to in the text above. E.ON offshore fact book: http://www.eon.com/de/unternehmen/23700.jsp World Bank guidelines In 2007, the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) released a revised version of their Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines. These offer general and sector-specific examples of ‘Good International Industry Practice’. The industry guidance for the Electric Power Transmission and Distribution sector includes good practice on wind energy. These documents complement the Environmental Assessment Sourcebook released 10 years earlier by WBG. Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines: http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/sustainability.nsf/Content/EHSGuidelines - see General EHS Guidelines (full document) and Industry Sector Guidelines subheadings Power/Wind <strong>Energy</strong> and Power/Electric Power Transmission and Distribution Environmental Assessment Sourcebook: http://go.worldbank.org/LLF3CMS1I0 European Commission EU environmental legislation to offshore wind farm development such as Directives on: • the conservation of wild birds: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:1979:103:0001:005:EN:HTML • natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31992L0043:EN:HTML • EIA (the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment ) [Directive 85/337/EEC]; • SEA (the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment ) [Directive 2001/42/EC]. European Wind <strong>Energy</strong> Association(EWEA): http://www.ewea.org EWEA (2009) Oceans of opportunity; Harnessing Europe’s largest domestic energy resource: http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/documents/publications/reports/Offshore_Report_2009.pdf Identifying and managing biodiversity risks and opportunities of offshore renewable energy - GREENING BLUE ENERGY 31 Additional Resources
Page 1 and 2: Greening Blue Energy: Identifying a
Page 3: Greening Blue Energy: Identifying a
Page 6 and 7: About the Organisations IUCN IUCN,
Page 8 and 9: Acknowledgements The IUCN Global Ma
Page 11 and 12: 1 Introduction 1.1 Background Incre
Page 13: considerations of other marine user
Page 16 and 17: Offshore wind energy overview Natio
Page 19 and 20: 3 Impact assessment This section pr
Page 21: 3.3.1 European legislation The EU E
Page 24 and 25: Key environmental issues Level of c
Page 26 and 27: Marine impacts 4.2 Managing impacts
Page 28 and 29: Marine impacts Foundation Types (co
Page 30 and 31: Marine impacts Fishing vessel leavi
Page 32 and 33: Marine impacts Annexe 1 - see Secti
Page 34 and 35: Marine impacts a wind farm has effe
Page 36 and 37: Marine impacts Figure 4: A summary
Page 39: 5 Conclusions and recommendations 5
Page 44 and 45: 1 Introduction A review of potentia
Page 46 and 47: will be prohibited inside energy pa
Page 48 and 49: 2002). Vertically oriented structur
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Page 52 and 53: ous nature may, however, only arise
Page 54 and 55: the whole wind farm area itself (Ma
Page 56 and 57: adically among species (e.g. Thomse
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Page 62 and 63: 7.8 Noise and avoidance by sea turt
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Page 66 and 67: may fly at altitudes lower than 20
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Page 70 and 71: depending on the species (Dierschke
Page 73 and 74: Annexe 2 Legislation Contents 1 EIA
Page 75 and 76: 2 Strategic Environmental Assessmen
Page 77 and 78: 3 Marine Strategy Framework Directi
Page 79 and 80: Annexe 3 Brief on Wave, Tidal and C
Page 81 and 82: Figure 2: Example of wave converter
Page 83 and 84: impact of noise emissions on marine
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Bio/consult A/S. (2000a). Horns Rev
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Edren, S.M.E., Teilman, J., Dietz,
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Wind Farm construction in harbour p
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Aquatic Sciences. 63:2603-2607 Lewi
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Peters, R.C., Lonneke, B.M., Bretsc
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cause versus effect. Oceanography a
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påverkas av ljud från vindkraft t
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